Adam Nathaniel Yauch (pronounced /ˈjaʊk/; August 5, 1964 – May 4, 2012) was an Americanrapper, musician, film director, and human rights activist. He was best known as a founding member of the hip hop group Beastie Boys. He was frequently known by his stage name, MCA, and sometimes worked under the pseudonymNathanial Hörnblowér.

The Beastie Boys, a hip hop trio, released their first album Licensed to Ill on Def Jam Records when Yauch was 22. Yauch directed many of the Beastie Boys' music videos, often under the pseudonym Nathanial Hörnblowér.[9][10]

The Beastie Boys had sold 40 million records worldwide by 2010.[9] In April 2012, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Yauch was inducted in absentia due to his illness.[7] His bandmates paid tribute to Yauch; a letter from Yauch was read to the crowd.[13]

In 2011, Yauch received the Charles Flint Kellogg Award in Arts and Letters from Bard College, the college he attended for two years. The award is "given in recognition of a significant contribution to the American artistic or literary heritage."[14]

Yauch was also a strong supporter of feminism apologizing for early lyrics which he retroactively deemed offensive. Yauch's verse in the song "Sure Shot" includes the lyrics "I want to say a little something that’s long overdue/ The disrespect to women has got to be through/ To all the mothers and sisters and wives and friends/ I want to offer my love and respect to the end."[7][18]

In 1998, during the MTV Video Music Awards, when receiving the Video Vanguard Award, Yauch took the opportunity to make a statement about America's wars against Muslim countries and prejudice against Muslims and Arabs; this was before the term Islamophobia was in wide circulation. Artist Cihan Kaan wrote an obituary in Al Jazeera that Yauch was "Muslim Americans' hero, and America's personal Jewish Gandhi", judging his plea to be greater for intercultural healing than the music of later anti-war rappers whose lyrics included anti-Americanism and conspiracy theories.[20]

In 2009, Yauch was diagnosed and unsuccessfully treated for a cancerous parotid gland and a lymph node. He underwent surgery and radiation therapy, delaying the release of Hot Sauce Committee Part Two and the subsequent tour.[21][22] He was unable to appear in music videos for the album. Yauch became a vegan under the recommendation of his Tibetan doctors.[23] At the time, Yauch described the cancer as "very treatable".[24]

Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam said that Yauch was "a crazy talent whose contributions with his band were inspirational and consistently ground breaking".[27]

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke wrote, "We looked up to the Beastie Boys a lot when we were starting out and how they maintained artistic control making wicked records but still were on a major label, and the Tibetan Freedom Concerts they organized had a very big influence on me personally and the way Adam conducted himself and dealt with it all impressed me a lot. He was a mellow and [very] smart guy. May he rest in peace."[28]

Eminem said in an interview, "Adam Yauch brought a lot of positivity into the world and I think it's obvious to anyone how big of an influence the Beastie Boys were on me and so many others."[29]

Linkin Park inserted a verse of the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" into the bridge of "Bleed It Out" while touring during Summer through their KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas show in 2012 in tribute to Yauch.

Madonna reacted to the news "The Beastie Boys were one of a kind! And so was Adam! They were all an important part of my musical history and integral to the musical revolution that was happening at the time."

Coldplay performed a cover of "Fight For Your Right" during a concert at the Hollywood Bowl in tribute of Adam Yauch on May 4, 2012, the same day Yauch died.

Phish dedicated their cover of "Sabotage" to Yauch during a concert at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on July 7, 2012.[30]

Beastie Boys rapper Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz posted a note on the Beastie Boys' Tumblr page about the death of Yauch, acknowledging the pain of losing Yauch as well as the admiration for Yauch.[31]

In his last will and testament, Adam Yauch left instructions that his music could not be used in advertising, though some legal experts said that it may not be valid.[32]

On May 3, 2013, ceremonies were held to rename the Palmetto Playground in Brooklyn, New York, to Adam Yauch Park.[33]